"As we rounded one of the corners, AHHH! We could see the castle at the top of the next mountain!"

When we reached the bottom of the mountain, we entered Sauerthal, which is squeezed between two extremely steep mountains / hills. There is just barely enough room in the valley for a narrow road with houses on each side -- everyone's front yard is on the main street and back yard rises high and steep into the woods.

We drove up through Sauerthal then continued up the mountain toward the castle.

As we neared the top of the next mountain, we saw the driveway that turned into the castle.

We were not allowed to go into the castle but did walk around the entire outside, taking pictures of ourselves near the front, where we figured maybe Fred's ancestors had walked to gather wood. It was so steep there, we had trouble staying upright and not sliding down through the trees!

As we continued around the castle, we found ourselves walking along a very old, moss-covered wall around a dry moat.

Near the end of the driveway, just outside the front gate, is a carriage house (left, above). A few feet away is the "watcher house" (right, above) with the gate into the precints around the castle. We stood on the other side of this gate and talked to the family inside.

The two photos above show the small precinct (walled-in yard) and the front of the castle.

The large precinct (above) is shown set up for events with a canopy (left), and with a hot air balloon (right)